Books

Books have functioned as a channel for voicing Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan’s perspectives and thus as a means of gaining access to Moroccan public. For Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan, books can play a very significant part in replacing public meetings and rallies (Yassine, 1994).¹⁰⁹ Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan activists initially chose the medium of print to produce books, magazines and tracts. They used books as a platform for discussions with French-influenced groups and with other Islam-oriented groups. In the following, the focus will be specifically on Abdessalam Yassine’s most important books because he has proven to be a prolific ideologue.¹¹⁰

As noted in chapter 3, after distancing himself from Sufi Islam in the late 1960s, Abdessalam Yassine engaged himself in a new adventure in Marrakech. He involved himself in the Moroccan intellectual life that was wholly characterized by European political philosophies such as Marxism and Existentialism (Tozy, 1999: 194). Abdessalam Yassine’s intellectual activism resulted in publishing several books and booklets.¹¹¹ Abdessalam Yassine’s first book was published in 1972/71. The central thesis of Al-Islam Bayna al- Dawa wa Dawla (Islam between the Mission and the State) is the rejection of understanding Islam as a religion that concerns solely private life. In contrast, Abdessalam Yassine saw Islam as a comprehensive religion that seeks to organize religious, economic, political, social and cultural life of Muslims. In Abdessalam Yassine’s words, Islam is both a religion and a way of life.¹¹²

In 1973, Abdessalam Yassine published Al-Islam khadan: Al-´Amalo al-Islami wa Harakiyato (Islam Tomorrow). Here, he revaluated the concept of Al-Jahiliya (the

109 Recently, many scholarly books have emphasised the role books have played in contributing to the emergence of an Islamic public sphere (see Gonzalez-Quijano 1998: 171-198 and Eickelman and Salvatore 1997: 219-241).

110 See Darif, 2000: 54-55.

111 Yassine’s disciples often refer to the fact that Yassine has been the most prolific political leader in the history of Morocco. They refer rightly to the fact that Moroccan politicians could not produce books, an obvious signal that they do not have political, social and economic ideas which could later be integrated in a program. The books are in a sense the program of the organization.

112 For further analysis see Darif, 1995: 11-16.

Islamic).¹¹³ For Abdessalam Yassine, today’s Muslim societies live in a period of “Fitna”

(total disorder). He adopted Fitna since it suitably applied to the current state of the Islamic Umma. He explained what the nature of Fitna is and the ways by which the Umma could overcome it.

In the same year Abdessalam Yassine published La révolution à l’Heure de l’Islam in France. At that time he was not politically engaged in any religious or political organization. He viewed the evolution of secular principles in Morocco as part of a process of European domination. For him, colonialism introduced these “un-Islamic political, economic and cultural concepts into Moroccan political discourse”. According to Abdessalam Yassine, the proper way to withstand the European domination is by calling on “the mobilization of Moroccans on the grounds of Islam”.

In 1973, Abdessalam Yassine wrote Al-Islam Au At-Tufan: Risala Maftuha Ila Malik Al-Maghrib (lslam or the Deluge), which he directed to the king. He privately printed this 114-page letter and distributed it to many persons, including the Commander of the Faithful (Tozy, 1999: 69).¹¹⁴ This identified him as an Islam-oriented political activist and earned him a three-year imprisonment. He also raised in the letter the issue of corruption of the king’s entourage and counsellors. Abdessalam Yassine called for change of the structure of Moroccan society along Islamic precepts.

In 1982, Abdessalam Yassine published an essay in French, which he directed to the French-influenced segment of the Moroccans. This essay was initially delivered by Abdessalam Yassine in 1980 in Rabat as a lecture under the title of “Towards an Islamic Dialogue with the Westernized Elites”. In the same year, Abdessalam Yassine published Al-Minhaj An-Nabawi: Tarbiyyatan Wa Tandiman Wa Zahfan (The Prophetic Paradigm:

Socialization, Organization and March.¹¹⁵ The book was an attempt to provide Islam-oriented movements with an organizational framework and is thus the most significant book of Abdessalam Yassine. The book was and is still used by the organization as a textbook for socializing members and followers in organized groups.¹¹⁶ In this book, Abdessalam Yassine laid down a plan of action for the organization. The central message of this book is that the Muslim’s basic problems were caused by their having deviated from Islam. This situation should be changed if they returned to the application of Ash-Sharia.

113 The term stems from Quran and means ignorance. It refers to the period before the coming of Islam.

114 It is very important to note that Quran also has 114 verses.

115 For details of these chapters, see Darif, 1995: 147.

116 For an excellent elaboration of these points see Darif, 1995: 147-159.

Abdessalam Yassine proposed what he called the prophetic way as a method for “spiritual education” (socialization) and a Jihad organization (Yassine, 1982: 50).

In 1987, Abdessalam Yassine published Islam Wa Tahadi Marxiya Al-Leniniya, (Marxist Leninism and the Islamic Challenge). In this book, Abdessalam Yassine argued for popularising Islam to the masses in the hope of stopping Marxists from propagating their alien and dangerous ideas among Muslims. His main aim was to make Islam more appealing by taking account of the need of wider Moroccan audience.

Abdessalam Yassine urged the people of Dawa to conquer the traditional domain of Marxism and to place social and economic questions at the centre of their Dawa.¹¹⁷

In 1989, Abdessalam Yassine published Al-Islam Wal-Qaumiya Al-Ilmaniya, (Islam and secular Nationalism).¹¹⁸ In this book, Abdessalam Yassine vehemently attacked the Western political ideas and principles. At the heart of his critique are those

“Westernised elites”, who imported these ideologies, without making any effort at adapting them to the local context.

In 1989, Abdessalam Yassine published Muqaddima Fil-Minhaj (Introduction in the Method).¹¹⁹ The book presented many new terms, but the most significant one is

“Iqtiham Al-Aqaba” (the Overcoming of the Obstacle). This was a conscious act of political activism. Abdessalam Yassine encouraged Muslim individuals to form groups to prepare for what he called “Iqtiham Al-Aqaba”, an equivalent of Islamic Revolution, a change possible only when Muslims are organized in groups.¹²⁰

In 1994, Abdessalam Yassine published Hiwar Maa Al-Fudala' Al-Dimukratiyin, (Dialogue with the Virtuous Democrats).¹²¹ Abdessalam Yassine’s basic massage was that democracy and secularism are two related notions. By linking the two, Abdessalam Yassine attacked democracy indirectly while arguing that Islam is not against democracy and for despotism. He distinguished between two practices of democracy, the one in the Europe and the one in Morocco. In Morocco, democracy is victimized by authoritarian tendencies. He accused Moroccan democrats of allying themselves with the authoritarian regime to suppress Islam-oriented movements.

117 For further and excellent elaboration of the issues of this book, see Darif 1995.

118Yassine, 1989a.

119Yassine, 1989b.

120 See Darif, 1995: 85-97.

121 Yassine, 1994.

The intellectual discourse of Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan has been advanced by the most influential leader by means of his books. Abdessalam Yassine’s writings provide a coherent ideological framework for the members of the group. His books supplied the organization and the reader in general with coherent analyses to the major issues pertaining to Moroccan politics and society and thus they constitute a great strength.

Islam constitutes the basic framework of reference.